CRICKET

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18445, 5 January 1922, Page 8

CRICKET

By Slip. Local games will bo resumed cm Saturday, which, appears to b© a serious blunder _ on. the part of the Otago Cricket Association. If the resumption of Senior Grade matches were delayed for a week all the clubs would be at full strength, as the members of the touring team will then have returned,* One or two clubs are not seriously affected, while others, particularly Albion, are going to be severely handicapped. The backbone is taken out of the Albion eleven with Shepherd, Carlton, and Siedeberg absent, and although they hold a winning position on the first day’s play it is not at all unlikely that it will be turned into defeat under the circumstances. Grange will be without Galland, Chadwick, M'Mullan, and Conradi, but as they are in a strong winning position, they are not so seriously jeopardised. Dunedin will be without the services of Eckhold and Torrance, but Casey is expected hack before Saturday. J. M. Smith, Duncan, and Westbrook will bo absent from Carisbrook. Duncan is crippled, and Westbrook will take up his residence at Wellington at the termination of the Otago tour. The Otago Cricket Association would bo well advised to postpone the resumption of Senior Grade matches for another week. The Canterbury-Otago match was fought out strenuously and resulted in a fourwicket win for Canterbury. Our representatives are to be complimented on the splendid fight they put up right to the finish, with the luck against them. To lose seven wickets by leg-before decisions leaves one wondering as to when umpires will look searchingly into this- much-dis-cussed phase of tho game. The reports telegraphed'by the'special reporter of the Daily Times, who is recognised as an authority oh such matters, convinces one beyond all doubt that the decisions of one of tho umpires (Mr Cant) were flagrantly wrong, and had a demoralising effect on the members of the Otago team. In passing it might bo mentioned that not one Canterbury wicket fell leg-before, and regarding an. appeal for Patrick’s wicket to Casey’s bowling, the Daily Times representative asserts: “Your correspondent was in a good position to see, and he will maintain that if ever a man was out leg-before it was Patrick on Monday evening to the bowling of Casey. If Patrick was not out, then not one of the Otago men should have been given out.” An ex-Canterbury representative cricketer, who is nearly as well known in Australia as in New Zealand, also severely condemned the umpiring by asserting that it was the most disgraceful exhibition he had over witnessed. Private letters received from members of the team, who are extremely sore over the whole matter, strongly condemn Mr Cant’s umpiring. Hhepherd gave one of hia bright displays as a batsman, compiling £4 in the second innings. He is evidently at the top of his form and should catch the eye of the New Zealand selector again this season. Galland, too, gave one of his vigorous displays in making 64. Westbrook, Carlton (reported given out to an atrocious legbofore decision), M’Mullan, and Siedeberg (not out) did their share in raising the score to a respectable total. Three of the men are indisposed—Eokhold, Duncan, and Siedeberg. Duncan’s mishap is said ,to be so serious , that he will be a passenger throughout the tour. This is regrotfcali', as he had won his place in the team by sheer merit, and was making his first appearance for Otago. He was in .hopes of getting runs on the northern wickets, to which he was accustomed, having played in Auckland prior to coming to Dunedin. Eckhold’s injury is also of- a serious nature, for he was unable to play in Auckland, while Siedeberg was very lame, although taking part in thoi game. There must be little chance of these three men being of much service at Wellington, as the manager, Mr Martin, has wired for Conradi to bo sent up. It is hoped that Conradi will be able to leave on Thursday morning.

As was known to be the case before the team left, it is feeling the want of a medium-pace right-hand bowler such as Conradi or A. W. Alloo,- and the request that the former bo sent to Wellington is to supply this want. Galland has not been given a chance with the ball. This is surprising, for he is not at all a bad bowler, and one who is just as likely to come off as any of our right-handers. In a nutshell, however, wo have no first-class bowler of this description in Dunedin. Carlton, Casey, and Torrance bore the brunt of the bowling in Christchurch, Shepherd _ sending down only a few overs. Dickinson was given his chance in the Auckland match, and it is pleasing to record his success at the first time of asking. His ability as a fast bowler was never questioned, but it was thought that he was on the young side and his time had hardly arrived. However, he was able to prove by his performance in Auckland that he is quite able to hold his own despite his youth, and he came out with an excellent record—five for 41 in the first innings and three for 39 in the second. Eight wickets for 80 runs against recognised strong batsmen is a worthy beginning in intefprovincial cricket, and the young fellow has won the hearty congratulations of all who interest themselves in the game.

Otago is having lean days in regard to wicket-keepers, and when C. Chadwick was chosen for the position it was realised that he was tho best of a mediocre lot, but it was never anticipated for a single moment that ho would let his side down so shockingly as the extras in th,o Canterbury match indicate—34 in the first innings and 45 in tho second for six wickets —79 in all. This_ is distressing, and, in the absence of information, inexplicable. It is interesting to recall that Alex. Downes made his first appearance for hlis province in 1887-88, in a match _ against Canterbury. With the bail he did well, securing five wickets for 34 runs, while he failed to do much with the bat, securing five runs in the two innings—one in the first and four in the second. Otago won this match. by 102 runs, and it was W. Carson (IT for 77) who assisted Downes in going through the Canterbury side for totals of 58 and 93. Jack Hope also played in this match, and secured two wickets for !6. After holding their own in South Canterbury, Southland met a team in Christchurch classed as Canterbury B, and were severely beaten to the tune of an innings and a largo number of runs. Th© home team compiled 426, to. which 10 of tho batsmen contributed two-figure scores. As an indication os to how evenly tho Canterbury men scored the individual totals read as follow:-68 55. 50, 50, 48, 29, 29 . 24, 23, and 15. 11. M. Taylor was die only batsman who failed to reach double figures. Kavanagh, who was the best of the Southland batsmen, also bowled well. The game is flourishing in Central Otago, tho newly-formed centre having five competing. teams. Country week in Dunedin is being looked forward to keenly, and there will be a large number of visitors from tho interior to witness th© games. It is claimed that the standard of play there is bettor than it has been for a number of years. The result of the Auokland-Otago match is a disappointment so far as Otago’s second innings is concerned. In spite of casualties, it was hoped a fairly good score would bo amassed and a close finish take place. Outside Shepherd and Galland, who made 43 and 41 respectively, the others gave a sorry exhibition, and the side went out for the small score of 124, Auckland winning by 198 runs. Tho Auckland_ bowlers secured good averages in this innings, notably Garrard (four for 24) and Alloott (three for 33). The Otago tour will terminate with the match against Wellington, which will be commenced on Saturday and resumed on Monday.